Cryne and Ridsdale from Yorkshire Post

Cryne has model for success awaiting Ridsdale

NOT for the first time in his career, Peter Ridsdale is under pressure to walk away from a football club.

The former Leeds United and Barnsley chairman has only been in charge of Cardiff City for 11 months and has already offered his resignation after getting 'stick' from supporters.

Ridsdale is back at Oakwell this afternoon, three years on from his departure, and will find a club in far better shape than the one he left behind.

For the first time since exiting administration four years ago, Barnsley will record an annual profit and, for the first time in seven years, there is guarded optimism about pushing for the Premier League.

Millionaire landlord Patrick Cryne is one of the main reasons why things look so good. The lifelong Barnsley supporter provided an interest-free loan in excess of £4m with no intention of pulling the plug.

In a rare interview, Cryne has stressed that there is no 'bitterness' towards Ridsdale, whom he introduced to the club during a deal to buy out former owner Peter Doyle in October, 2003.

Cracks in the relationship did not take long to appear, however, and Cryne reluctantly withdrew support for Ridsdale when the finances appeared to be spiralling out of control.

Despite the differences, Cryne will extend the same courtesy to Ridsdale today as to any other visiting chairmen and will not avoid a handshake in the boardroom.

Reflecting on the background to the split, he said: "There was no bitter falling out and I don't have any specific criticisms of Peter in the sense that he did things that were wrong.

"He had an opportunity to try and arrive at the same self-financing situation - the same challenge that we are now facing - but he didn't get there, which meant it needed more cash to come in.

"The funding I agreed to put in was put in, from then on, it was Peter's club to run. He had the benefits of ownership but I provided him with access to some working capital."

Ridsdale, who famously 'lived a dream' by splashing big money at Leeds in search of Champions League glory, went out of his way to make the best players possible available to Barnsley's then manager Paul Hart.

Yet his faith in Hart failed to deliver the required results - despite investment in 'Premier League' players such as Jacob Burns, Stephen McPhail and Michael Chopra (the latter two also moved to Cardiff). Significantly, fans also snubbed Ridsdale's offer of a six-year season-ticket deal that was designed to raise nearly £750,000.

"It was always understood that he would attempt his business model," said Cryne. "If it succeeded, fine, he would have the business to run, if it did not succeed, we would have to consider alternatives. He kept me up-to-date on what he was trying to do but it didn't work and so a new approach had to be taken.

"His emphasis was on boosting revenue, but we would say the focus should have been on getting the costs down. There is a limit to the revenue you can generate at a Division Two club.

"We were always uncomfortable about the bond scheme," he added. "You have to have an understanding about the folk in Barnsley to have a proper sense of how successful that could have been. People in Barnsley are very careful with their money."

Ridsdale is now locked in a fresh battle to protect his reputation and, last month, Cardiff were threatened with court action over a £24m loan taken out by former owner Sam Hammam.

Manager Dave Jones pushed the boat out on a string of big earners, including former Leeds strikers Robbie Fowler and Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink but results have been unspectacular.

Thanks to the profit engineered by Ridsdale's replacement, chairman Gordon Shepherd, Barnsley have also embarked on a shopping spree this summer, albeit with emphasis on the cheaper foreign markets. Their results, so far, have been better than Cardiff's.

Cryne is optimistic about the future but is determined not to jeopardise the club's financial stability.

"The people running the club are doing an outstanding job and long may that continue," he said. "Off the field, we are back on a solid financial footing and, on it, we are playing the type of football that people like to watch.

"You have to keep the Premiership 'goal' in mind but it is difficult to put a time-scale on anything and for now we hope to stay in this division. Last year, we survived, this year is about consolidation, and next year is all about competitiveness."

 

interesting read. its bizarre that he doesn't seem to have learnt despite making the same mistake twice now.